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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. court — of a king
  4. mate — to breed
  5. ground — a position
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. scale — size or range
  9. game — a match
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mate — a partner
  13. mate — a friend
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. ground — the earth
  16. court — of law
  17. band — a ring
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — in music
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. court — for sport
  23. bark — to shout
  24. ground — crushed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com